In English law, the purpose of an award of damages for breach of contract is to compensate the injured party for loss, rather than to punish the wrongdoer. The general rule is that damages should (so far as a monetary award can do it) place the claimant in the same position as if the contract had been performed, in turn making up for any loss incurred. Contract damages are, therefore, essentially compensatory, measuring the loss caused by the breach. The net loss is calculated by quantifying the harm caused by the breach, then deducting or crediting all the benefits caused by the breach. In many cases, even though the defendant has breached the contract, the claimant can pay for a third party to remedy the default so as to put the claimant in as good a position as if the defendant had performed. For example, the claimant might pay for repairs to rectify a breach of warranty of quality by a seller of goods, or a partial non-performance by a service provider. Where already incurred by the time of trial, such a cost will be recoverable from the defendant providing it was not so unreasonable as to be a failure to mitigate and/or a break in the chain of causation. Where the cost of cure has not been incurred at the date of trial, it will only be recoverable where incurring the cost would be "reasonable" in all the circumstances. This is because a claimant will always have a choice not to cure the problem caused by the breach. A claimant may instead, either simply live with the consequences, or use the market to offload unwanted or defective property and replace it with better property. Overall, this law is to safeguard the rights of the customer. It is in place to ensure the supplier performs its contractual obligations to the standard to which it is expected to perform. The key to prevent this situation from arising is to ensure the level of expectation within the contract is realistic and that there is clarity and understanding between the parties as clearly expressed in the contract .
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